Licker grinder



J. F. LEHMAN LICKER GRINDER Nov; 3, 1942.

Filed July 23, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n A TORNEYS Patented Nov. 3, 1942LICKER GRINDER John F. Lehman, Birmingham, Ala., assignor toFeltonWimberly, Jr., Birmingham, Ala.

Application July 23, 1940, Serial No. 347,114

3 Claims.

This inventionrelates to a licker grinder and has for an `object theprovision of an apparatus capable of accuratelyand speedily grinding theteeth of a licker without the necessityof removv ing the wire therefrom.

A further object of my invention is tol provide a licker grinderincluding means to guide and hold the grinding wheels to proper positionto contact the teeth while'the licker is being turned beneath thegrinder.

Astill further object of my invention is to pro- Vide a lickergrinderembodying motor driven grinding wheels mounted in a suitableframe, and embodying guiding means supporting the frame and motor on thelicker and adapted to hold the grinding wheels `to proper grinding rununtil the teeth were so dull it was no longer `capable of doingeffective work, when it was removed and equipped with new wire. By theuse of my invention theteeth of the wire when dulled may be ground andthelicker maintained in good condition indefinitely.

Briefly; myinvention comprises a motor having a grindingwheel mounted onits shaft on each end,` the grinding wheels being of a width to` extenddownwardly between adjacent rows of teeth ,i on `the .licker and beveledto the` proper pitch to grind the licker `teeth on each side of .the.grinding wheel. The` motor is pivotally mounted in aframe adapted to besupported on the licker cylinder whereby the depth of grinding wheelswithl respect to the licker surface may be adjusted. It is alsoadjustable with its grinding wheels laterally of the frame. The frame issupported byzadjustable guide wheels which `iol- `lowthe spiral wire yonthe licker and guide and hold the grinding wheels to their work.

`These and other features of my invention are "i illustrated intheaccompanying drawings forminga part of thisapplication, in which y Fig.1 is a plan view of my improved grinder; Fig. 2 is asectional View takenalong the line n-nofrig. 1, and showing the grinder in operation;

. I Fig. 3 is a detail sectional viewl taken on line III--III of Fig. 2,showing one of the adjusting means for the guide rollers; and

'-isa plan'rview partly diagrammatic,`

showing the apparatusin ,operation grinding the licker teeth.

Referring to the `dra'vvings for a betterunderstanding of my invention,I show a rectangular frame comprising side members It) and I,I 1 heldtogether by a plurality of through bolts I2. Mounted between the framemembers I0 and II is a motor I3 having a grinding wheel I4 mounted oneach end of its shaft. The motor is supported in the frame by means of abracket I6 secured to the motor by means of tap screws I1, and which isconnected at its opposite end, preferably by welding, to a sleeve I8.mounted on a bolt I9 extending fromside to side of the frame. Anadjusting bolt.2I ,ispivotally .connected to the bracket I6 `at `22, andis provided with an adjusting nut 23 manually operable to raise andlower the motor I3 in its frameby a pivotal movement about the bolt I9.As will be seen in Fig. 2, the pivot pin` 22 is capable of limitedlateral sliding movement on the bolt 2|. A spring 24 on the bolt 2|holds the motor steady in the frame in its adjusted position. The` nut23 is split, as shown at 26, anda set screw 21 serves to compress thesplitv portions and prevent loosening of the nut from its set position.Openings 20 in the end frame members I0 and Ilpermit the pivotalmovement ofthe motor described.

Thesleeve I8 with bracket I6 and motorl3 is adjustable laterally in theframe by means of an adjusting nut 28 slidingly connected to the sleeveI8 at 29, and which is lockedin adjusted position by means of a lock nut3l. As the motor is thus laterally adjusted the pivot pin 22 slidesthrough the opening in the adjusting `bolt 2|, as already explained.

Extending across the frame near the'bottom is an axle 32 heldin'positionby nuts 33,.and which has mounted ,thereon a plurality of guide Wheels34. These guide` wheels areso spaced as to bear against `thesides of thewire 35 ofav licker as the licker is I'being .rotated with `theapparatus resting onv the upper surface, gland lare effective to holdthe grinding wheels I4 to their proper position to grind the lickerteeth, as-seen in Fig. 2. On the opposite side of the frameis anotheraxle 36 held in place by nuts 31 and having mounted thereon: supportingwheels `38 which bear against the surface of the cylinder and assist inholding the frame up off the Wire as the licker is being rotated.

In order that the supporting wheels-38 may bear evenly on the surface ofthe'licker,`I,pro-

vide a means,` shown particularly in Fig.v 3,V to adjust the position ofone end of the shaft 36 with respect to the frame I0. 3, the axle 36extends through a slotted opening 39 inthe frame member Ill'andthrougha` hole in a plate 4I mounted on the side of the frame member.I0. The upper endof the vpla-te 4I nis,

As ,shown in Fig.

bent over to form a head 42 through which extends an adjusting screw 43.'Ihe adjusting screw 43 extends downwardly through the head 42 and isscrewed into the threaded head 44 of a bolt 46 rigidly secured to theframe member I0 by means of a nut 41. A spring 48 is interposed betweenthe head 42 and the nut 44. The bolt 46 passes through a slotted opening49 in the plate 4I, so that when the nut 41 is loosened and the screw 43is turned, the plate 4I, with the adjacent end of the axle 36, moves upor down, depending on the direction of turning of the screw 43, and itsheight is thereby regulated with respect to the surface of the lickercylinder. When the proper adjustment has been secured, the nut 41 istightened up, which tightens the plate 4I against the frame member I0and holds the axle 36 rmly in place.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 4, whenever it is desired to grind the teeth ofa licker, the licker is removed from its frame and placed in a cradle 5Iwith its shaft resting in suitable openings 52 and 53 in the cradle. Thelicker cylinder may then be rotated by means of a crank 54, or by anyother suitable means. The grinder frame is then set down on thecylinder, as shown in Fig. 4. It is prevented from turning with respectto the cylinder by means of a guide bracket 56 secured to the side ofthe frame, as shown in Fig. 2, and having rollers 51 and 58 mountedtherein between which a rod 59 extends, and which has its ends insertedin suitable openings in the cradle 5|. Electric -current for operatingthe motor I3 may be supplied through a wire 6I', and the operation ofthe motor is controlled by switch 62.

As is well known, the wire 35 of a licker is comprised of severalseparate toothed spirals laid side by side in grooves formed in thelicker shell, the distance between two rounds of any one spiral beingone inch, and there being from lve to ten spirals, side by side,according to the class of work for which the card, in which the lickeris incorporated, is intended. This results in the distance between thecenters of two consecutive spirals being either one-fth, one-sixth,

one-seventh, one-eighth, one-ninth, or one-tenth inch apart, while thepoints of the teeth are usually one-fourth inch apart lengthwise of thewire. I'.

In designing my improved grinding machine, therefore, I space thegrinding wheels I4 to t accurately between two parallel rows of wire,and the grinding wheels are of such thickness and are formed withbeveled peripheries 63, so as to grind the teeth 60 successively on eachside of the wheel as the licker is turned, as shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawings. The guide wheels 34 must also be spaced on the axle 32 to bearagainst the wire 35 and to hold the grinding wheels I4 to their properposition for grinding. The grinding wheels may be properly positionedwith respect to each other, if some slight adjustment is required, bymeans of shims on the motor shaft, as is well understood.

As the teeth are being ground, the licker is turned in one directionuntil the outermost grinding wheel in the direction of travel completesthe grinding of the teeth to that end of the cylinder. As clearly shownin Figs. 2 and 4, the guide wheels 34 rest on the cylinder between thespirally wound rows of licker wire, so that upon rotation of thecylinder the grinder is caused to traverse the same. Then the directionof rotation of the licker is reversed and the machine is fed back in theopposite direction until the opposite grinding wheel completes itsgrinding of the teeth to the opposite end of the cylinder. Then themachine is moved and the guide wheels placed between the next adjacentparallel rows of wire and the operation just described is repeated,followed by a similar operation, until all the rows of the licker teethhave been ground.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised an improvedlicker grinder which is simple of construction and operation, and whichis adapted to grind the teeth of a licker or other spirally arrangedteeth with a maximum of efficiency and a minimumof time.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled vin the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specificallyset forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A licker grinder comprising a motor, a frame supporting the motor, apair of grinding wheels mounted on opposite ends of the motor shaft andspaced to t between parallel spiral rows of licker wire and adapted togrind the sides of adjacent rows of teeth, means to rotate the lickercylinder with respect to the grinder, rollers carried by the frame forsupporting the grinder on the licker cylinder and cooperating with thespiral rows of -wire to guide and hold the grinding wheels to their workand cause the grinder to traverse the licker, means to adjust theposition of the guide means vertically with respect to the frame, aguide bar extending along one side of and parallel to the lickercylinder, and a bracket carried by the motor frame engaging the guidebar and free to swing thereabout for holding the grinder against turningwith the licker cylinder.

2. A licker grinder comprising a supporting frame, guide wheels carriedby the frame and adapted to bear against the spirally wound licker wire,a motor pivotally mounted on one side of the frame, means to adjust themotor laterally and about its pivot in the frame, a pair of grindingwheels mounted on the opposite ends of the motor shaft and spaced toenter between the rows of teeth of the licker, and having bevelled facesto grind the adjacent sides of the licker teeth, means to rotate thelicker as the grinding wheels are being driven by the motor, and meansto hold the grinder frame against turning with the licker cylinder.

3. A licker grinder comprising a grinding Wheel adapted to grind thesides of adjacent spiral rows of licker teeth, a frame upon which thegrinding wheel is mounted, rollers carried by the frame for supportingthe grinder from the licker cylinder and laterally engaging the rows oflicker wire to hold the grinding wheel to proper cutting position, meansto drive the grinding wheel, means to rotate the licker to cause thegrinder to traverse the same, a guide bar extending along one side ofand parallel to the licker cylinder, and a, bracket carried by the motorframe engaging the guide bar and free to swing thereabout for holdingthe grinder against turning with the licker cylinder.

JOHN F. LEHMAN.

